I have probably been overthinking this one, because at the end of the day Kraven is going to be a big dumb film. But it could have been so much more, and this is my article so I can do whatever the hell I want and you can’t stop me.

Kraven has quite an interesting origin. He was created by the legendary team of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, his origin is heavily based on the 1924 short story, “The Most Dangerous Game”. A story that follows a big game hunter from New York who becomes marooned on a Caribbean island where he is hunted by a Russian Aristocrat. (Interestingly this book entered the public domain in 2020, meaning anyone can use it.)

How does this apply to Kraven The Hunter?

In the world of Marvel Comics, Kraven is a big game hunter who has set his sights on Spider-Man. He is also the descendant of Russian Nobility that fled Russia after the February Revolution. He lives for the hunt, it is all he cares about, unlike most hunters he does not use guns, but instead imbibes a serum that increases his physical abilities while also dramatically slowing his aging process. With this serum running through his veins, he can eschew the long range options of most hunters and instead take his prey down with his bare hands.

He comes into contact with Spider-Man via his half-brother, the Chameleon. The Chameleon was actually Spider-Man’s first enemy. This helped give Kraven a personal tie to Spider-Man, but that is not what made Kraven so popular, the reason why IGN ranked him as one of the greatest villains ever, is his personality. When he fights Spider-Man it is not for money, or power, but simply for glory and there is something appealing about that. He does not hate Spider-Man but actually respects him.

To truly understand Kraven one need only read Kraven’s Last Hunt. This is considered one of the best Spider-Man books ever written. The book sees a depressed aging Kraven who has become disillusioned with his abilities especially since he has never defeated Spider-Man. In this book he places Spider-Man into a coma, buries him alive and then proceeds to become Spider-Man. Donning the red mask, Kraven begins to dole out his own form a brutal form of vigilante justice and even single handedly takes down a villain Spider-Man could not defeat.

Eventually Spider-Man escapes Kravens trap and is offered the chance to stop Kraven or the murderous villain he has once again set loose. Spider-Man chooses to go after the murderer, this reaffirms to Kraven that Spider-Man is truly honourable. At this point he commits suicide.

As for me the definitive version was cemented in an episode of the 1990’s series, where Kraven teams up with the punisher to hunt down the Man-Spider. In this particular episode we see the man of honour who was willing to fight to save his old foe, and it was the first time I had ever seen a villain choose to be a hero.

So, what Sony planned for the character?

Well, we are not quite sure what they have done. It looks like they kept the Russian origin, but it appears they made him someone who as a child did not want to hunt, which to me takes away some of his ruthlessness and then they made it so that due to a drop of lion’s blood being absorbed into his wound he gained superhuman powers such as enhanced physical capabilities and the ability to speak to animals.

This takes away a lot from him, this makes him an outcast by accident, rather than by choice. Also he apparently is hunting mobsters, which annoys me because it seems like the film is trying too hard to redeem the character before he has even had a chance to be bad. Also talking to animals is something he does not need, it’s better if he is just a guy that hunts with his bare hands and enhanced senses.
Another minor complaint from me is the addition of a brother, like I said earlier his brother is the Chameleon, the only problem is a character heavily implied to be the Chameleon appeared in Spider-Man Far From Home. It is not a major issue, but it annoys me because it once again is an example of the MCU using characters that they have no intention of developing. Of course this could be a parallel universe that we are dealing with, but at this point we do not really know.

Finally they have the Rhino as an antagonist in this film. The Rhino is not main antagonist material, he is a fantastic character and I am a huge fan of him but, he is a big dumb brute and a fight against an agile hunter like Kraven is going to be boring.

A better option for a movie would have been an origin with the well-cast Aaron Taylor Johnson being betrayed by his Russian Mob father and being abandoned in the African Jungle where he gains his powers, through an addictive serum that warps his mind, and begins to ruthlessly hunt down and kill the men hunting him. They could have even used Maneater as a villain – this is a character who is half jungle cat, half human. The perfect foil for Kraven.

In fact I would argue that they could have made this like a new Predator movie, Only it is Kraven hunting then men hunting him, all the while being stalked by the Maneater.
This could have saved Sony a small fortune, by keeping locations and cast minimal. And ontop of that it would have allowed the company to truly do something different and creative. In stead they look to have taken the easy option, which will undoubtedly be a bloody mess.